My first experience watching Australian Survivor was actually David Genat’s first season: Contenders Vs All Stars. He was my favourite. He was deliciously manipulative and dastardly. He’d befriend you and send you home from tribal council with a smile on his face. I adored his dynamic with Luke Toki, and when he was blindsided, I loved it even more. And I will never get over how he absolutely demolished that popcorn machine.
I was hooked. When David, aka the Golden God, returned for another go in Allstars, I was like, this is it. He’s going to get it this time. And it was excellent television. The fake idol swap? The final tribal? Absolute cinema.
Of course, when he returned for a third time, they couldn’t let him get that far, and he was booted early. But then everything changed.
Our beloved Jonathon LaPaglia (JLP) was blindsided, and the news broke that The Golden God himself was taking on the mantle of host of Australian Survivor. The fandom was thoroughly nonplussed.
JLP steadied the ship of Australian Survivor, a calming voice, a strong helping hand, and an endless array of one-liners and puns. We trusted him. How could one of the castaways, whom we’ve seen lie, manipulate, and fool his friends, take up that mantle? We love David as a contestant, but can we trust him as a host?
Who better to ask than the man himself? David and I sat down before the end of 2025 to discuss the upcoming season.
Read on for our conversation.
David Genat, congratulations on your new role. How does it feel to be the new host of Australian Survivor?
Thank you. It’s very surreal, but it feels amazing. I think that it’s been kind of a long journey, but to get there and actually film it and do it has been so satisfying.
Is it surreal because you were on the show and now you’re steering the ship?
Yeah, because it’s been such a long journey. I played in 2019 for the first time, and here I am six, six years later, hosting. So it’s been a part of my, it’s become kind of a part of my DNA. And so to end up as the host feels like the completion of a journey, but now there’s like a new journey that’s just starting, and it’s very exciting.
What went through your mind when you got the call to be the host?
I was very excited, but also a little bit in disbelief. I’ve been an actor and a model. So I’ve done a lot of auditioning for a lot of things. And the first time you get that call, you start not to take everything seriously until you sign a contract. And so obviously, I was really elated. I was having a crazy kind of year because I just did Deal or No Deal Island.
Also, congratulations on that. [David won AUD$9.2 million on the show]
Thank you. So it was like on top of that, I just like, my dopamine levels were just through the roof. So I was really, really excited to get the call. At first, I was like, all right, well, if it happens, it happens. I didn’t really think too much of it, but yeah, then it did. And it’s been incredible.
So JLP has been on the show for a really long time. What’s it like to step into his shoes? Were you intimidated?
Oh yeah, definitely. He was so good in the role. He’s a great host.
You had a great dynamic on the show as well.
We had a good dynamic on the show. Like, I wouldn’t say we’re like close friends, but we have a good working relationship, and I know him. And so that comes with a lot of responsibility. Now the worry for me was trying not to let him down, to make sure that his legacy stays intact and that we’re delivering a really high-level, high-quality show.
There was a lot of pressure stepping into those shoes. I didn’t quite expect as much blowback from like the fans who, I mean, they love him, but how nice for Jonathan, that’s his exit. Because it would suck if they were like, “Oh, he’s replaced”. So, I think for him, it was really nice for his legacy and that the people are sad to see him gone. But it’s entertainment, nothing lasts forever. We don’t get the same Batman; we get a new one every two years. So maybe that’ll be the same with this. We’ll see.
With the backlash from the fandom, does that add to the pressure?
Yes, but I like the pressure. I like proving people wrong, and I like people thinking, “Oh, you can’t do something”. People didn’t think I could win Survivor either. I like proving them wrong. They didn’t think I would win $6 million on Deal or No Deal Island. And I 100 per cent know I’m going to do the same with this. So, yeah.
What has been more challenging: Being on the show or being the host?
Definitely being on the show. There’s a format as the host. We get scripts, there’s a format of how things run, so I know what my day is going to look like. But when you’re a contestant, you’re ad-libbing things, you’re trying to be creative, you’re trying to make things happen, you’re trying to get people voted out. So it’s just so much tougher.
But the hosting job is hard. I mean, there’s a lot to it. I didn’t quite realise how much was involved because there are 500 people who work on this thing. So we’ve got 200 ex-pats, 300 locals. It’s a behemoth. And when you see how the sausage is made, you start going, oh, okay, that’s how things work. Everything is engineered down to the hour. We’re testing challenges two days before. There are all these really fine, precise things that we rely on, such as the art department and so many people who make the show happen.
Whereas you’re a contestant, you don’t think about any of that. You’re just like, “Hey, cool, let me just eat as much popcorn as I can when I get the chance.”
Are there any particular moments or players from your seasons that shaped how you view the game?
Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, Pia on season four, like she was the winner of season four, was just the way she played and manoeuvred socially was a big impact on me. And then Luke Toki, I always think about how Luke played because he’s just got this magnetic kind of social personality to him. I think you take away a little bit from everyone you play with, you know? And that’s how you become a better player. So returning players get that experience of seeing what worked, what didn’t work, and then instituting that into their game moving forward.
I’m glad you brought up Pia because that moment in the final Tribal Council when you called her the “goat” [as in he carried her all season]..
And she was like…
“Excuse you, David, I am not a goat,” and then proceeded to lay out her entire gameplay and clinch victory. You had a look of pure respect for her on her face. Is that how you felt in that moment?
Yeah, 100 per cent. But like I asked that question with the intention of getting her to do that, you know what I mean? I was doing that for TV. I’ll throw you a little pitch, and you can knock it out of the park. Because I love Pia. I think I thought her game was amazing, and I didn’t think she was a goat. When you’re making good TV, you just need to antagonise people. You need to throw a few punches here and there, and they can rise to the occasion as she did. And that was that pivotal turning point in her final tribal speech, where I think she just really ran away with it.
And so, you’re known as the most strategic or probably one of the most strategic players. Do you think the game has changed since you first played?
Yeah, it always has to change because it’s tough to keep innovating once people have done things one way. So plays that have been done before have to be changed so that you can make them yours. And that comes with strategy or idol play, or like those little innovations in the game, are what make these new players so great. Because we’ve had over ten seasons of Australian Survivor. We’ve had almost 50 seasons of American Survivor. So we’re not going to see too much innovative gameplay, like a fake idol being made, a fake idol being played, a fake idol being swapped, like those kinds of things are being done.
Yes, by you.
Well, they have been done by me. I guess, but that’s what I want to see moving forward, but how can you engineer that? And this season, we have a good fake idol.
There’s a very good, there’s a very good fake idol play. So it’s that creativity, I think that we that you want to see in these new players. And I think also like me, being the host elevates the level for the guys coming in because they’re gonna, yeah, they know who’s sitting in front of them, what I’ve done in my game, and you can’t you can’t slide one past me.
Do you think you’re enticing or encouraging them to rise to the level of Golden God?
I think so. And I prompted them to do that. I was really like, let’s go, let’s play! Like you’ve got a responsibility here. I’ve been where you are, and look where it’s got me. If you want it, you’ve got to go get it. You can’t just sit back and be quiet. I want you guys to play. And they really did. They played super, super hard this season.
What do you think is your favourite part of the game?
I mean, I love Tribal Council. Because I think tribal craft is a really important part of Survivor. And I think to be good at Survivor and to be good for television, you have to be good at tribal council. And crafting a good tribal council and making that kind of your arena to show off your work, I think, is really important. So I love seeing how people can orchestrate and run a tribal.
And some people can come in and really dominate a tribal council. And have it fall exactly how they want it to. So that’s where the real gameplay comes into play. Because on the beach, you can say a million different things to a million different people, but it really only comes to fruition at tribal council.
What was the most memorable or hardest part of your time on Survivor?
What was the hardest part? I think like… Not eating is hard. Like, I lost a lot of weight. But I think like the hardest part is probably after the game, leaving the bubble, leaving that Survivor bubble, because you’ve been in this world for like 50 days. You’ve made all these really close friends, tight connections and all that kind of stuff. And then it’s just gone. So you’re just bonding super fast with people. I mean, you’re stabbing a lot of people in the back. But the people you feel friendly with, you really feel connected to them. And then all of a sudden they’re gone.
But you’ve made true friendships, forged in the flames of Survivor for life?
Yeah, with Janine and Peter and Abby and Shania. There are some, like the people with whom I stayed friends, that’s never changing. I’ve got some really, really close friendships from the show. People who were quite like-minded and just interesting people, they cast very interesting people on Survivor, exceptional people, and they’re people I’ve kept in my life.
But now, I’m not going to be able to make a lot of friends. No, the host isn’t allowed to be friends with anyone.
Are there any lessons from your time on Survivor that you’ve carried into your life?
I think it definitely made me reevaluate how my friendships work. Because when you’re in Survivor, people overshare information, like everything about their lives, very, very quickly. And that’s how you kind of forge these tight bonds. Now you’re doing hard stuff together, you’re suffering together, you’re doing challenges together, but it’s really this sharing of information and trusting people that makes them bond so quickly.
And I think that something you can’t really explain to someone unless they’ve played is just how close you feel to these people. And I had friends for like 20 years who didn’t know as much about me as my as these people on the show I’m playing this game with, who are trying to stab me in the back. So that made me start to reevaluate what real friendships are, what authentic friendships are. And even though we were out to get each other, I became super close with a lot of these people. So it just makes you reevaluate your day-to-day friendships and all those like real fluffy friendships you have that mean nothing, or people just want to be friends with you for whatever reason. So, definitely, made me reevaluate my friendships.
If you want to learn how to deal with people socially, go on Survivor because it’ll sort you out real quick!
So you’ve taken part in four reality TV shows now, this stage. Search for Supermodel, Australian Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, and Deal Or No Deal Island. I think we can make an argument for five with Survivor Australia versus the World. Is there another show for David Genat out there?
Would you be a traitor or a faithful?
I’m going to say a faithful because I don’t want people to think I want to be a traitor.
Well, given your track record…they may think you’re a traitor. But that’s worked out for others.
Oh, it’s so good. It’s just such a fun show. Like, I really, really like it. I’m super excited about the reboot for Channel 10 as well. And yeah, I think it’s just such a fun game, and I like the games. I love reality games, and I love competitive reality. Traitors would be the one I’d do.
Australian Survivor premieres at 7.30 pm on 23 February 2026 on Channel 10 and can be streamed on 10Play on demand.
